Don't Come Crying
by AlabasterTemptress
Summary: Marik/OC. During Battle-City. Ihna Dahab is the reincarnation of the Great Priestess who gave her blood to help create the millennium items. She vowed to one day reclaim her blood in new flesh. Will Ihna conquer her hunger for the items, or will they steal the rest of the blood they did not get 5,000 years ago? T for swearing, violence, and suggestive themes. HIATUS
1. Escape to Domino

Ishizu Ishtar stood outside of the museum, watching the workers unload the artifacts from the recently discovered ruins. At first, she thought it was just going to be your average artifacts, urns, old jewelry, the like, but a large stone tablet caught her eye.

"Stop for a moment, please." She told the workers as she looked over it, scanning it. It showed the Pharaoh Aknamkanon, whom she deduced must have been the Pharaoh's father, and six other men, each receiving a millenium item. There was a large ornate ring in the middle of the carving, and she knew it depicted the creation of the Millenium items at Kul Elna 5,000 years ago. The myths never went into detail as to the creation of the items, only that they were made by sacrificing 99 souls of the Kul Elna and they were made to protect , in the middle, presiding over the ring, was what appeared to be a woman, using the souls to create the millenium items. Something told her that researching this was important, too important to overlook. "Excuse me, but where there any other tablets recovered from the ruins? One that possibly went with this carving?" She asked a rather scruffy worker who was carrying a case that contained an old gold and emerald necklace.

"Sure miss, there was one, I'll get if for you." He handed the necklace to the other worker, and climbed into the truck, coming out with a box about the size of a laptop. He handed it to her.

"Thank you." Ishizu bowed her head slightly and scurried into the museum, where the workers had now put the large tablet in a glass case. She carefully opened the box, and pulled out a stone tablet riddled with hieroglyphics. They were old, and a bit hard to read, but as she studied it she was able to make out one sentence. Her eyes widened, reading it with a worried expression. "The Great Priestess shall rise in new flesh one day to reclaim her blood from gold." Ishizu, using her common sense, could only predict that this Great Priestess used her blood, metaphorical or otherwise, to create the millenium items, and that she could be coming back for it. She grabbed the phone and called the Pharaoh at once.

"Hello, Pharaoh?" Ishizu eagerly asked, she was glad she was on good terms with him and his friends.

"Uhm, no, this is Yugi, do you wanna speak to The Pharaoh? I can, err, get him?" Yugi had no idea how to phrase it, I mean it's not like he could grab the guy from the other room or something.

"Oh that would be very nice, thank you." Ishizu replied, and Yugi, on the other line, let his Yami takeover. After a few moments of silence, Ishizu spoke up.

"Hello? Pharaoh?"

"Hm? Oh yes, right. What did you need to talk about?" Yami sat on the bed in his hotel room.

"I think I found something that could have a heavy impact on the future of the millenium items. I'd rather not explain over the phone, come by the museum this evening and I will explain everything." Ishizu said her goodbyes shortly after, and hung up the cell phone. She cast a worried glance out the window, looking past the skyscrapers and towering buildings of Domino City, into the clear blue horizon.

A figure sat cross legged on a dirty stone floor, it's head resting on its fist with its elbow resting on its knee. It was cloaked in a black hooded robe, dark brown hair hanging out of the shadowed hood. On the other side of the room, a woman in the same garb, hood down, was tending to what appeared to be an altar to the egyptian god Ra.

"Can I go outside?" The sitting figure said out loud, a bored, feminine voice escaping her reddened lips. The woman nearly dropped what she was holding, and turned to face the girl. The woman had tan skin, and charcoal black hair that was adorned with a golden headdress and tied back with a golden ring. Her eyes were wide and dark brown, and she looked in her mid thirties or early forties, but she was quite beautiful.

"Why, my dear Ihna! Why would you want to go outside? There's nothing but a dusty desert and sleazy markets, and you have to learn how to tend the shrine like I did when I was your age." The woman smiled. Ihna stood up, and stomped her foot, making the hood flow off her face to reveal skin a similar, albeit slightly paler, tone than that of the woman, and eyes as clear as the blue sky.

"Mother! I don't want to tend the shrine! I don't want to be a damned priestess! I want to go out and I want to have a life, something you apparently never had!" Ihna's rage at her mother for keeping her here had been boiling up for years, and mentioning of the shrine had just set it off. Her mother was taken aback, and had a look of hurt in her now tear-filmed eyes.

"Ihna-" "No mother! Nobody even comes to this damned temple anymore! Nobody worships the old gods, and if they do, they do it elsewhere! And I don't care if we're waiting for this "Great Priestess" to appear or whatever! You can wait for her yourself, but I'm 19 and I have never even been to the city! The only times I leave is to go with you to the market for food, and when I lived with father in Moscow! I want to go out and I want to live and, and I want to play Duel Monsters like father taught me!" She shouted, her hesitation all but gone. Ever since her father had died when she was eleven, she had been living with her mother. She had been told it was the duty of all the women to tend to the shrine, and wait for the return of the Great Priestess that their ancestors revered. Before tributing her blood towards the creation of magical relics called the Millenium Items, she had told their clan that one of their women would one day house her soul, and that girl in particular would bring honor and salvation to the world. Or so the legends go, anyway. Ihna really didn't care much for the lore her mother tried to force feed her.

"Ihna! I never want to hear you say you want to play Duel Monsters ever again!" She clutched her daughter by the shoulders, for she knew the evils of that game, it's connection to the millenium items holders, and everything. But there was no reasoning with Ihna, her Russian father had let her too much freedom as a child when she lived with him. Ihna ripped herself away from her mother's grip, and glared. "I wish father had raised me! I wish he had never died and I was never sent here to live with you!"

"Dear you would've been sent here anyway! The deal was he had you until you were a woman and then you came to me!" Her mother growled.

"13 is not the age of a woman." Ihna took a step back, recalling that she cannot, under any circumstances, let her anger get to her for some reason, and calmed herself down. "But 19 is." With that, Ihna bolted out of the room and into her own, slamming the door. Her mother would think that she was just brooding, but Ihna was getting out of here. She was sick of "shrine this" and "altar that" and all her mother ever talked about were the gods and this Great Priestess woman!

Ihna pulled off her robes, and started to put on some real clothes. In the hot desert all she could wear was a pair of very short black shorts, which had once been pants that she mutilated. She put on a black, fitted shirt and an ivory colored jacket with many straps and buttons. She popped the collar of the jacket after putting on an ivory leather choker, and brushed out her rather spiky hair. She laced up her slightly heeled combat boots and grabbed the dark leather messenger bag leaning against her uncomfortable bed. She opened up a side pocket on the bag, and grabbed a duel deck on her nightstand, looking at it fondly for a moment and sticking it in the pocket, sealing it closed. The temple was above ground, and it was old. She had been working on this for months, and she pushed a brick out of the wall, but only one. The sun was setting, and that's exactly what she wanted, only an hour or two more, she thought. She laid down on her bed, staring at the ceiling while she waited, in deep thought. _Where will I go? What if she finds me? Will anyone give me trouble? _Questions swirled in her head, and soon enough moonlight shone through the hole in her wall.

Ihna smiled as she grabbed her bag and one last thing on her dresser, a wallet, full of at least 30,000 dollars. _I wonder if mother has noticed the money missing, yet. I suppose not, she would've been screaming already._ The obscenely large amount of money was something her mother had in case they ever needed to quickly leave Egypt, in case of some sort of emergency that Ihna could never create a sensible scenario for. She shoved the wallet in her bag and pushed out more bricks, climbing out and carefully placing the bricks back. She stood up, and started running towards town, where she had never been. She grew tired, and a run turned to a jog, and a jog to walk, but she made it there. She looked for the airport, and thankfully was rather close to it. She jogged over to the entrance and somehow managed to slip by security, into the cargo hold of the ship. She didn't know how, but if she didn't want someone to notice her, they never did. Comfortably settling between a tacky flower pattern suitcase and a few childrens suitcases, evident by the cartoonish cover, she settled in for takeoff. First the rumble of the engines, then the feeling of her stomach staying on the ground, and after a while, they were flying. "Agh, finally." Ihna sighed, she had no idea where this plane was headed, but hopefully somewhere where she could make a life for herself. She started looking at her deck, it had doubled since she was a little girl, but she looked fondly at the ones she had originally gotten from her father.

Maiden of Macabre, Belial - Marquis of Darkness, and her beloved Ebony Dragon, which was worth a small fortune, due to only two others being in existence, and those two being in museums. Those three cards were her very first ever gotten, and she had picked them out herself. Well, except for Ebony Dragon, that was a very special gift from her father he gave her after picking out her first artwork of the cards was also some her favorite. Maiden of Macabre was, in her mind, one of the most beautiful creatures to ever be seen. The woman was dressed like a geisha, hair done up and everything, but she had such a thoughtful and calm expression as she held that dark, charcoal colored scythe. Marquis of Darkness always made her feel safe, kind of like her knight in shining armor. The way the Marquis stood in that ebony armor and those raven wings always brought a smile to her face, her father had told her that the Marquis was a very useful card if you had another monster on the field that you did not want killed, because it took on all the opponents attacks and wouldn't allow him or her to harm any other monsters on my side of the field. She had one a lot of duels with this card when she was a sprout. At last she admired the artwork of the Ebony Dragon, her absolute favorite. The dragon was not roaring, or flying, but rather appeared to rise out of black waters as it looked towards the moon. It's eyes appeared to glow a dark blue, and it's wings spread gracefully. It was an armored dragon, but did not appear to be made of metal, it appeared natural. It's scales looked hard and bony, spines poking out of its back. She sighed as she remembered, as a little girl, having dreams of flying with this dragon. She put the cards away, hugging her bag close to her, waiting for sleeps embrace to welcome her with open arms once more.

When she awoke, she heard voices. _Shit, they're unloading the plane. _Ihna quickly hid in the shadows, and barely managed to slip out unnoticed, she had to throw a suitcase across the hold to distract the workers enough to get out.

"Phew, now to find out where I am...Oh wow...a lot of duelists..." She walked around a bit, until she saw this kid and his friends. Now, she swore, this kid must have shoved his hand in the toaster or something when he was a child because his hair looked freaky as hell. But they looked nice enough, so she walked up to them.

"Excuse me, what is this city and what's with all the duelists?" She kindly asked, they all gave her weird looks.

"'Ey dis is Domino City, Japan and we're all here for da Tournament, how come ya don't know?" A blonde boy said.

"Oh!" She put on her best embarrassed look "Sorry, I just got on the wrong flight in Egypt and I didn't know where the plane was going. Say, can people still enter? I love dueling! By the way, my name is Ihna Dahab." She smiled. Something in her heart tugged, and she looked down at the strange triangular pendant around Yugi's neck, and some hunger was rising in her, but she quickly shook it off.

"Sure you can still enter, I'm Yugi Moto, this is Tea, Tristan, and Joey." The kid said. Joey winked at her and she just smiled.

"Thank you very much!" She bowed her head slightly as they pointed her to where she could register, and she ran off. She gave all her information, altered slightly, not mentioning she's lived in a damned abandoned temple for the past 8 years and that her mother was a crazy priestess. She was issued a duel disk and she happily strapped it on her arm. On her way out, she bumped into someone and landed on her butt.

"F*ck!" She cursed, and the figure glared down at her. She looked up, and saw purple eyes. Those eyes captivated her, like staring into a pool of crystal clear water with thousands of amethysts lining the bottom. His skin was tan, like hers, that of an egyptian. His hair was blond and spiked in a unique fashion, of course no where near Yugi's fashion. He was quite handsome, but she felt the same way when she looked at Yugi's necklace, he had something she lusted after, perhaps he had is own strange object? She couldn't see any at the moment.

"Well? Are you going to move out of my way?" He said in an irritated voice, it was oh so slightly raspy but somehow attractive all the same. She stuck her tongue out and scrambled up to her feet, almost dropping her bag on the way up

"I should be the one being a prick to you, y'know, you didn't even say sorry for bumping into me." She crossed her arms. She knew she was the one who bumped into him, but a man should show common courtesy and at least help a woman up!

"No I didn't, you bumped into me, now out of my way." He pushed past her and into the building. Ihna glared at him, somehow knowing they'd be getting to know each other quite well. Oh dear Ra, she hadn't even been in this city for a few hours and she'd already added someone to her list of people to keep an eye on. She most certainly wouldn't mind keeping an eye on him, though. No, she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind as quickly as it came in. "What are you thinking, Ihna? You don't even know the bastards name." She wandered off to try and find the hotel all the duelists were using, awestruck by the glistening skyscrapers and towers.

Marik Ishtar was not in a good mood, he had had a terrible morning filled of mishaps not on a level to ruin his plans, but they did irritate the hell out of him, and now some girl has the nerve to bump into him and say it's his fault. Stupid child, he thought. But somehow, when he looked at the girl, he knew she'd become a much bigger part of his life, whether he likes it or not. He had another thought before pushing past her, and that was this: He had never seen a girl where shorts that short in public. He hoped that's what she wore all the time.

_I edited a bunch in this, added some dialogue with Ishizu and the Pharaoh, made things more grammatically correct, and tried to make it look less like I smooshed 3 chapters into one ^^' Reviews are loved!_

_AN: I got back into Yu Gi Oh recently and I just had to write a Marik fic, and throw in a little OOC Marik at the very end X3 Review please, I'll draw Ihna soon! And her name, in arabic, means Hatred Gold, to which I translate as Hatred of Gold, which relates the Great Priestess thing I have going on! I'm very confusing, I know, forgive me v.v _


	2. Blood and Gold

The pharaoh met Ishizu at the museum, it was evening and the sky was darkening.

"Why did you call, Ishizu?" The pharaoh looked around the museum, looked like they got some new artifacts in.

"I have some information that might, maybe, concern you." Ishizu explained everything about The Great Priestess and her vengeful quest. After the explanation, Yami rubbed his temples for a moment.

"We shouldn't get too excited over this, but we should both keep watch for any suspicious characters and look into it. I'm afraid I've got to get going back to the hotel now, I believe Yugi mentioned something about needing a good nights sleep. Goodnight, Ishizu." Yami bowed his head and left. On his way back, he recalled the young woman that Yugi and his friends had met today, and noted to keep watch of her.

Ihna Dahab was tired, very, very tired. She had gotten lost on the way to the hotel, and after finally making it there and checking in, the elevator was undergoing maintenance. After trudging up to her room on the 11th floor, she was beyond irritated and beyond exhausted.

"Room 312, I think..." Ihna muttered as she opened the door, only to see Mr. Lavender midriff shirt, without the lavender midriff shirt.

"What in the name of Ra are you doing in my room!?" He angrily shouted.

"Huh!? But I thought 312 was my room!" Ihna squeaked, blushing slightly at the sight before her. She looked up at the room door and saw she was very ,very mistaking. The number on the door was 313. "Oh." She blurted.

"Yes, 'oh.' Now get out!" He shoved her out the room and slammed the door in her face, or it would've been her face if she hadn't fallen on her butt from the shove.

"Ow...Dear Ra, he didn't need to shove me so hard..." Ihna got up and rubbed her butt, too tired to go in there and smack him. She made note that the room NEXT to that one was hers, and shoved open the door, letting the handle hit the wall. She lazily tossed her bag on the floor, uncaringly kicking the door closed with the back of her foot. Making little effort to notice the luxury of the room, she pulled off her shoes and jacket before falling down onto the soft, silken covers of the bed and letting herself be taken by sleeps sweet embrace. For the first time in a long time, she had a dream. Unfortunately.

_Why won't it stop? Why won't the INSUFFERABLE SCREAMING FUCKING STOP!? Make it stop..._ I cry and cry, and in my mind I am begging the screaming to stop as I am surrounded by piles of gold. But the gold is drenched in blood and body parts defile the trove of treasure. I open my mouth, but my throat is dry and I seem unable to produce saliva, the only sound feasible being weak, raspy whimpers and squeaks.

It only occurs to me now how much I hate gold. Staring at the stark contrasts of red and crimson, I finally realized my reasonless hatred of the precious metal. I grew up around it, my mother adorning the temple with the gold ornaments and artifacts. I cannot see the source of the screams, there is no one else there. I am alone. No, wait, I am not alone. I stare at the wall, awestruck by the only pieces of gold not slicked in blood.

There are 7 of them, one of them is the pendant Yugi wears around his neck. The others are a rod, a ring, a scale, a necklace, an eye, and an ankh. At first, I was thinking I was relieved to see gold not stained in crimson, but now, I realize how much more I hate these objects. Hate them more than the blood and gold that surrounds me.

I reach out to them, grabbing the rod by mere whim, wishing to bash it into the ground, to dent it's features and ruin it until it is nothing but a pile of scrap. But as my fingers wrap around it, a searing pain shoots throughout my entire being. I release it, but it is too late. My own blood shouts out of every orifice of my body. I feel my eyes leave me as they are pushed out by the pressure of my blood, desperate to escape my body. I don't know how I see it, but the blood goes into the items before me, being absorbed into the gold rather than splattering it. I finally find my voice, and I scream. I become one of the insufferable screams that had tortured me in that room of tainted treasure.

Ihna shot up in bed, screaming as tears rolled down her face, falling onto her bosom and imbuing her skin with the taste of bitter salt. She sat there, sobbing about a dream. All she could remember about it was gold, gold and blood. Her blood. And screams, oh the horrible screams. They echoed in her mind and scratched at her soul. She became aware of her surroundings as a loud pounding hit her hotel room door, causing her to back up in into the headboard with eyes full of shock. The door swung open, and a very angry egyptian male stood in the doorway. His blonde hair was messy, and his eyes tired. He was shirtless, wearing nothing more than a pair of loose black sweatpants. His amethyst eyes burned her, but tears still rolled down her face and her hiccuping continued.

"For the love of Ra, will you quit you're damned blubbering and let me rest!?" He shouted at her, but her sobbing only worsened. He briskly walked over to her, grabbing her face silencing her. "I said. Shut. Up." He threatened in a deadly voice.

The tears continued to roll down her face, but she wasn't scared anymore, she was angry. She closed her eyes for a moment and grabbed his wrist, wrenching it away from her face, getting slightly scratched by his nails. She let her lids up, and stared at him with irises the color of the sky mixed with the iciest glaciers. He pulled his wrist away, his face showing no emotion other than irritation, but his eyes gave way of the slightest bit of shock. He turned around to leave, and she noticed the egyptian hieroglyphics tattooed onto his back. She did not bother to read them, though.

"Wait." Her voice was weak, but strong enough and loud enough he at least turned his head to look at her.

"What." He voiced it less like a question, and more like an angry demand. She stared at him for a moment longer, and frowned.

"Your name, what is your name?" She said softly, but her voice held a tinge of venom to it. He stared at her, debating whether to tell her or not. Finally, he spoke.

"Marik Ishtar." He didn't know why he told her, but something tugged in his mind, making his vocal chords, his tongue, and his lips move on their own. He mentally slapped himself for telling her, it could ruin his plans. But he was too tired to eliminate her for security purposes at the moment.

"...Ihna, Ihna Dahab." She weakly muttered, tears finally stopping, leaving her face streaked and her eyes red and bloodshot.

"I didn't ask." Marik half slammed the door to her room before returning to his own. He lay in bed thinking of the girl, wondering why he feels she is not a normal mortal. She lay in bed thinking of her dream, and of Marik. She knew they would definitely be seeing more of each other. A lot more.

AN: Hey guys! I've decided I'm going to keep the parts with Ishizu and her knowledge of the great priestess short, so they'll build up over time! I hope I did better on this chapter than the last one, and I really liked writing out her dream in first person. And her and Marik finally know eachother's names! Yay! I think I made him less OOC this time, I hope! Reviews are LOOOOOOOOVED! And a big thank you to The Duelist's Heiress and Shadowclanwarrior for their input and reviews! *gives out cookies*


	3. Maiden of Iron

At exactly 5:00 AM, Ihna Dahab clawed her way out of bed and onto the floor, wrapping herself up in the sheets and bedding. Crawling like a child into the bathroom, she reached over the edge of the tub and flipped the drainage off, turning the knob so scalding water poured out of the faucet.

"Hnnng..." She grabbed at the counter, pulling herself up with great difficulty. Noting how much she hated the world, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and started to strip down.

"Okay Ihna!" she pointed at the bathroom mirror, being completely naked on the top half of her body.. "You are a strong, independent, confident young woman and NOBODY can tell you otherwise! You don't need anyone to hold you up because you can take care of yourself! Yeah!" She gave herself that pep talk every morning she could, it was something she had done ever since she was a little girl. She never stopped, because her dad said it was cute, and it did help a little. In her mind, she was planning how she was going to get 6 locator cards. "Okay...gotta hurry if only the first 10 to get 6 locator cards can get in." After removing her pants, she closed the bathroom door and slowly lowered herself into the near scalding water. Whenever she bathed, she always made it hot enough to nearly burn her, to leave her skin red for about an hour, but never enough to burn or scar. Her mother always told her scars were ugly. She let herself sink into the water till it was reaching to the breach of her lips. The surreal feeling of being surrounded by water subsided quickly, and she began to wash her hair and body of all the grime from escaping egypt, sitting in a dirty cargo hold, and getting pushed over numerous times by who she now knew as Marik. She drained the tub and proceeded to dry off and dress herself, grabbing her bag and slipping out the door, leaving the bedding strewn across the bathroom floor. As soon as she started walking down the hall, a door swung open and hit her in the face, disorienting her for a few moments. In those few moments, she was grabbed the wrist and dragged into Mariks room.

Marik threw her into a chair, making sure two of his rare hunters were holding her down. As soon as she regained the ability to think coherently, she started shouting. "WHAT THE FUCK MAN!? LET ME GO! RAPE! RA-" Marik slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Listen very, very closely, Ihna. You are going to help me. I'm going to take my hand away now, and you're not going to scream." Ihna nodded, and did not speak when Marik removed his hand. The rare hunters eased up on the pressure they put on her wrists, and stared her in the eye. "Now, you see, I have a plan. And you're going to help me with that plan. I grew up in a tomb, and was forbidden to go outside." Marik started to explain, which caused Ihna to have a pang of understanding in her chest. "Horrible things happened to me there, and it is all because of the Pharaoh, who inhabits the body of Yugi Muto." "Wait, Yugi? The kid with electrified hair?" "Did I say you could speak!?" Marik put his forehead against hers, his hands on the ends of the chair arms, glaring at her with an intensity of a snake. Ihna shrank back against the chair, whimpering a sorry. Marik couldn't believe this was the same woman who stood up to him last night. "Now, as I was saying, the pharaoh is the reason I have this," Marik turned his back to her, pulling his shirt halfway off, to a point where she could see all of his back. Ihna remembered his tattoos, but she could not read them herself, they were too ancient. But then again, she never really learned to read anything more than bottom of a Duel Monsters card. Marik finished his explanation, Ihna stood up, stretching out slightly so she could be eye level with him. "So, what if I say no?" Ihnas voice was calm and calculated, she had no intentions of saying no, she just wanted to push his buttons.

"I'd have to kill you. You know who I am, and I can't have that slipping out." He pushed his hand up against her throat, not too hard, but enough to make it obvious that he was serious.

"Good. Because I agree. I value my life. Ah, but there is one condition." Marik cocked his eyebrow at her, removing his hand and letting it linger near her hip for a little too long before dropping at his side. "...Don't send me to Egypt." Ihnas voice was more desperate and pleading than Marik imagined, and he was caught slightly off guard.

"Hmph. Don't worry, this won't require you to even leave the city." Ihna regained her composure after relief washed over her face.

"Anyway, what are your orders, boss?" Ihna drawled, wanting to get on with the day.

"Simple. Get in with The Pharaoh and his little friends. Make them trust you, make them think you're one of them. And if you double cross me..." Marik revealed his Millenium Rod, gently running the blade on the side down her cheek. Her eyes grew wide and fearful, but of course, Marik didn't know the full reason why. "I'll kill you." Ihna nodded in a panic, and quickly ran out the door, holding back tears. Right after leaving the hotel, she wiped her eyes, she did not need to think about that shit right now, she told herself.

"Hmm...okay...Yugi...Oh where are you my little toaster headddd...?" After about 3 minutes of wandering, she heard a cheerful voice to her left.

"Hey! Ihna!" Yugi and his friends came running up to her.

"Oh hey guys!" She switched to nice and sweet little Ihna, daughter of Russian nobleman Sven Romanove.

"Have ya found any locata cards yet?" Joey grinned at her, showing off his two cards.

"Oh right! I have to find some! Do you guys wanna come with me?" Ihna was not the best at acting sincere, but she figures these saps will buy anything. Soon enough, they were walking around the city looking for their ticket into the big leagues. "Hey Ihna didn't you say you're from Egypt? What part?" Yugi was attempting to make conversation. Ihna cringed on the inside, but put on a friendly smile.

"Well I'm from Cairo but I lived in Russia for a lot of my childhood." She rambled on about her childhood, having a loving mother and father who lived together until her father got into an accident and they moved to Egypt. Her mother's name was Cecelia Dahab and Ihna only had a traditional arabic name because she was named after her grandmother, a priestess and healer of the poor and sick. Her father spoiled her rotten and both him and her mother taught her duel monsters. She was making herself sick telling them all these lies, not because she was guilty, but because it is the childhood she wished she had. The only kernel of truth in there was how much she loved her father. Her savior came in the form of a rather rough looking duelist with the creepiest grin.

"Hey there babe! Ya wanna duel?" He looked in the groups direction. Tea immediately spoke up.

"But I'm not a duelist!" she squeaked. The man facepalmed.

"Not you! the hot one in the booty shorts!" He winked at Ihna and her temper flared.

"Nobody refers to my clothing with such derogatory terms! They are short shorts! Let's duel, motherf*cker!" She ran right up to him and they started the duel.

"Gene-Warped Warwolf! Attack her directly!" The beast charged towards Ihna, ignoring the face-down card on her field, shattering 2000 of her life points, leaving her with 600 and him with 700. Ihna was not at all the best improviser, and she was losing fast. She prayed silently to Ra that the card she drew from her deck would allow her to formulate a quick plan. With a deep intake of breath, she closed her eyes and drew the card, holding it up to her face. When her lids fluttered up, a very cat-like grin stretched across her face.

"Hey babe watcha grinnin about?" The man called, trying to mask his nervousness. But no, Ihna could hear it, and he had every right to be nervous.

"I play the card Monster Reborn! Now as I'm sure you know, this card allows me to bring back a monster from the graveyard, and I choose to bring back my Iron Centurion in defense mode!" Ihna played the card, causing a vaguely human, mechanical, nearly black iron figure to appear on the field. It was at least 15 feet tall and very, very well armoured. "Now I'll activate my face-down card, Double Summon!" Double Summon flipped over and was destroyed, and Ihna drew another card from her deck. She smiled to herself, playing the card. "I now summon Magma Atronaut!" the monster appeared on the field, swaying and doing backflips while floating in mid air. It had the figure of a female, but was made of pure rock and lava, horns sprouting from its head. "I will now end my turn, good sir." She smirked.

"Alright, sweety. Gene-Warped Warwolf! Attack her Iron Centurion!" The man obviously had no idea what he was dealing with, for the wolf simply hurt itself trying to break through the Iron Centurions defenses. "Huh!?" He shouted, grabbing his hair.

"You obviously have no knowledge of my Iron Centurion, for your Wolfs attack points pale in comparison to his defenses, and you just wasted a very, very precious turn." Ihna smirked, and pulled a card from her deck, oh what a happy surprise. "Well, I certainly wasn't planning on this, but this will allow me to wipe you out in one turn. I use the card Polymerization, to fuse my Magma Atronaut and Iron Centurion to form the Lady of Wrought Iron!" In a flash of light, her Magma Atronaut and Iron Centurion fused together and in their place stood a very tall and elegant woman, dressed in a hooded robe adorned with wrought iron bars shaped to her curves, and a pair of wrought iron "wings" sprouting from her back. "Now, my Lady, destroy his Gene-Warped Warwolf!" The Lady disappeared and reappeared in front of the Wolf, who let out a desperate and agonizing howl as she surrounded him with a cage of wrought iron, which shattered the hologram as the spikes of the cage shot into it. The man took 800 damage, ending the duel and making him fall to his knees. She walked up to him, holding out her hand and twitching her fingers. "I do believe I get to take your rarest card, and your locator card." Ihna smiled as the man reluctantly handed her his locator card and his Gene-Warped Warwolf. The others had started and finished their own duels while Ihna got her second locator card.

"'Ey Ihna that was a great duel! Ya sure showed 'im eh?" Joey grinned.

"Yeah Ihna you were really great! For a second I thought you were done for with that warwolf in his side." Yugi smiled. Ihna smiled, putting on the most sincere face.

"Thanks guys! Hey do you wanna go get a burger or something?" She figured these guys would like burgers, and she would stomach the infernal crap to ensure her safety from Marik. Thankfully, they all agreed and soon they were all sitting inside a McDonalds, munching on the crap the pass off as food. Ihna managed to make small talk while forcing the crap down. The one thing she missed about Egypt was, even though her mothers food was plain, it was good. Or at least tolerable. "Oh wow, it's really late! I should get going!" Ihna noted the time, all too eager to get back to the hotel.

"Okay Ihna, do you need anyone to walk you back to the hotel?" Tea asked. Ihna didn't particularly like Tea, her friendship speeches got on her nerves, so she merely said no thank you and continued on her merry way.

"Well? How did it go?" Marik greeted her at the door of the hotel with a glare, but Ihna smirked, putting her hand on his chest and pushing him out of her way so she could enter. "Ahem! I asked you a question!" Marik grabbed her wrist. Ihna flipped her hair out of her eyes, staring him down.

"It went perfectly fine, which is why I had no initial reply. It's only worth stating if something went wrong, right?" He released her wrist, staring at her. She must've grown up surrounded by people, a very social life, if she got their trust in one day.

"Hmph, well I suppose someone who was obviously raised to be extremely social and friendly would have no problem getting the trust of four imbeciles." Marik walked beside her to the elevator, pushing the button for the 11th floor as the door closed.

"Actually, dear child, I had no such life. I was not raised to be social, I was raised to be polite. In fact, for the past 7 years of my life I have lived locked in a Temple of Ra by my religion crazed mother. My childhood may have been happier, but I did not need friends as a child. I had my father and my cards. So please, think before you make such assumptions." Ihna looked down, staring at the nice tiles that lined the floor of the elevator. Marik was at a loss for words, how did the whole Rapunzel-esque story of imprisonment sound so familiar to him? Oh right, he lived it. He decided it would simply be easier to keep his mouth shut, and just say goodnight when they reached their floor and parted ways. But no, luck just hated him, and the elevator stopped.

"What the hell!?" Marik started pushing buttons, wondering why the hell it wasn't moving.

"Oh dear Ra...I knew this place had faulty elevators the day I had to walk 11 floors up to my room! Damnit!" Ihna punched the wall. She was tired, hungry, and she wanted to just curl up in bed with a donut and drown in her thoughts. The elevator had a built in phone that connected to the hotel management, and she immediately made use of it.

"Hello this is the management office, how may I help you?" The woman said on the other line, obviously rehearsed.

"Look lady the elevator is broken and me and my acquaintance are stuck! Get us the hell out of here!" She was in no mood for manners, and thus made no use of them.

"Okay ma'am please hold for a moment." Ihna groaned and sat down on the floor next to Marik, keeping the phone relatively close to her ear so she could hear if they got back. After "holding" for about 10 minutes. Her hopes skyrocketed when she heard the insufferable high pitched voice on the other end of the line.

"Well?" Marik shouted at the phone, as irritated as his female companion.

"Do you or your friend have anything that must absolutely be done in the next 10 hours, such as taking medication, taking care of children, etc.?" Her robotic voice asked.

"Uhm...no...?" Ihna asked, furrowing her brow at Marik.

"Then we will not be able to get the elevator fixed without damaging it until tomorrow morning. The air is still flowing through the vents in the floor and ceiling, so you will get assistance in the morning. We are sorry for the inconvenience, and good night." The woman hung up, and Ihna threw the phone against the wall with a rather loud shout of rage.

"Ugh, dear Ra..." Marik facepalmed, leaning back against the wooden wall of the tiny elevator.

"Well, it looks like we're stuck in here together for the night." Ihna crossed her arms, blowing her hair out of her face, making no effort to hide her irritation.

"Hmph. Well we might as well entertain ourselves to make time go by faster, because I cannot sleep in the damned tiny box." Marik cast a glance at Ihna. "So what do you want to do to pass the time?"

"...I could always tell you about my life in Egypt. If you wanna hear, I mean." Ihna muttered, staring at Marik with sky blue eyes. She expected him to say no, to throw an insult at her, anything but what he actually said.

"Hmmm...Okay. Tell me about it." He leaned back, and her eyes widened in shock. Well, she thought, time for a trip down memory lane...

AN: Hey guys! Wow! this is the longest chapter yet! I would like to thank Ataahua and Shadowclanwarrior for reviewing, and a super extra big special thanks to The Duelists Heiress for helping me out with ideas and just in general being a great person to talk to! CHEESE FOR EVERYONE! *throws around random tiny wedges of cheese* remember to review!


	4. Memory Lane

"I was born in Moscow, Russia. My father was a Russian nobleman named Sven Romanov. My mother is a priestess named Ahmar Dahab. Red Gold." Ihna was staring nowhere in particular, with a distant look in her eye, with Marik listening beside her.

-Ihna's POV-

I sit on the ground, crying. I'm five years old, and I have fallen from the swing and scraped my knee, as well as getting dirt on my powder blue dress. I call for my daddy between chokes and sobs. Within moments two strong arms pick me up off the ground, cradling me, asking how I hurt my knee, and just consoling me in general. The crying immediately stops, and I look up into the kind blue eyes of my father. His hair is dirty blonde and graying at the roots, his eyes showing years of laughter from the wrinkles. He places a bandage on my knee, kissing it before lifting me onto his shoulders and taking me back to the car. I ask him where mommy is, and he says she will not be able to see me for many years. I ask why. He says she is busy.

I'm seven years old now. I'm sitting at one end of a small table, and my father is sitting at the other. We're dueling, I don't have my own deck yet, so he goes easy on me, and I win. I'm laughing, throwing my hands in the air and gleefully stating I'll be queen of games one day. I look up at my father, grinning and saying he was a superhero, the best dad in the world. He smiles at me, picking me up and spinning me around in the room. We fall on the couch, laughing till we cry. I ask if we can watch a movie, and he gladly puts on a movie called Rapunzel. It's about a princess locked in a tower by her evil mother, but her handsome prince saves her by climbing up her long golden hair and rescuing her from the tower. I say it's my new favorite.

It's my ninth birthday, and I'm sitting in my room. Father comes in, he asks if I want a party. I tell him no, I just want it to be me and him today. He smiles, his eyes twinkling, and he tells me okay. Just me and him. He calls me downstairs later, and sits me in front of a beautiful pink and purple cake. It has sparklers, edible glitter, and a princess tiara on the top. 'Happy Birthday Princess Ihna" is written in pink frosting, and I squeal in joy. Me and him eat cake, and he gives me my present. It's very thin and small, but is wrapped in pink paper. He says to be careful with it, and I take every bit of care to unwrap the small package, even leaving the paper unripped. A grin spreads across my tan, rosy face. Three duel monsters cards. He says they'll help me start my own deck. I see the cards are the ones I pointed at in the store the other day. Maiden of Macabre and Marquis of Darkness. I ask him what the "Ebony Dragon" is. He says it is a very special card, for his very special girl.

I'm eleven. I run downstairs to show father the picture I drew for him. It's me and him, we're holding hands. Above us are my three favorite cards out of my now complete deck, the ones he gave me on my ninth birthday. I'm panting when I reach his study, eager to show him my masterpiece. I open the door, and run over to him. He's sleeping, I think. I shake him, call his name, but he won't wake up. His eyes are open, but he won't answer me. I start shaking, then crying, then screaming. One of the maids comes in, and she calls the hospital. I overhear them say something about a heart attack. I don't know what that is, I don't know anything. I miss daddy.

Mommy comes to get me. She's very pretty, but I miss daddy. She dresses strangely, but that must be because she lives in the desert. She says it's time to go back to Egypt. I say I don't want to go, but she insists. When we get back, she shows me my room. It's stuffy, dark, and small. I tell her it's not very nice, and she spanks me saying it is not nice to be rude like that. I never complain about my room again.

I'm turning thirteen today, I had always told dad that I couldn't wait to turn thirteen. He always said he would throw me the most spectacular party the world had ever seen. If he was still around, I might be happy. I'm not happy. Mother calls me from my room, presenting me with a set of robes, telling me happy birthday. She says I'm going to learn to become a priestess like her. I tell her I don't want to, and she tells me I don't have a choice.

Fifteen. I start telling mother I want to go outside. She says I can't, that it's bad out there. I believe her, I don't have a reason not to. She stopped spanking me years ago when I grew out of childhood, and she only scolds me when I am rude. She continues the lessons, about the gods and a woman called The Great Priestess. There is a carving of her in the temple, she is very pretty. Mother says I am like her, and I take that as her saying I am pretty, too.

Seventeen. I'm fed up with living here. I had snuck out, bought an outfit to wear when I escape to the city. It's an ivory jacket with black shorts, black boots, a choker and a black t-shirt. It's too big for me, I'll have to wait. I sit down and tune out the lesson mother is giving, reliving happier days of childhood in my mind. I can't understand why father would fall in love with a woman like my mother. He was nothing like her. It makes me wonder if my mother hadn't always been a possessive, obsessed mad-woman.

It's my eighteenth birthday. I'm ignoring mother, looking at one of my cards I have in my pocket. It's called Lord of D. It's not one of my three favorites, no, I will never risk having those out in the open. It does remind me of my father though, for no particular reason. My mothers shout snaps me back to reality, and she rips the card from my hand. I tell her I'm sorry, that I'll put the card away and never ignore her again. She says it's too late, and she rips the card in two. I jump up, screaming at her. I tell her I hate her, it may have not been my favorite card, but I loved it. I continue to scream, and she finally punches me in the face. I stumble back, horrified, I can't see out of my left eye. I can feel it swelling. She looks like she has just seen the face of death, I can hear her yelling that she is sorry while I run to my room. I decide I have to go soon, I'll pretend to forgive her, pretend to love her like she wants, pretend to listen. Then, I'm going to run.

-3rd Person-

Ihna finishes her story, her head tilted up to keep back the flood of tears threatening to let themselves loose. Marik says nothing, feeling too much of a strange kinship to break the silence. She didn't cry, she wouldn't let herself that release. She blinked back the tears, lowering her head so her neck wouldn't hurt. "What about you?" Her voice was strange and dark, darker than usual. Marik leaned forward, not wanting to tell her, but he might as well.

"I grew up in a tomb. My family has been tasked with taking care of it for generations. My father never let me outside. I snuck out once, y'know. Odion, who I thought of as a brother, got punished for it..." He clenched his fists. Ihna held interest in her eyes. "Then...things happened, my father was killed, and we all came here. It's all the Pharaoh's fault...it's his fault..." Marik twitched, holding his head, groaning. Ihna put a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"Marik? Are you o-okay?" her voice faltered slightly, afraid of what he'd do to her, locked in an elevator. He seemed to calm down, breathing heavily and coming to his senses.

"Yes...Yes...I'm fine." But Marik knew he wasn't. It was trying to get out again. He forced him back though, not here, not now. No telling what the beast would do to Ihna if he was locked in a cramped room with her, Marik thought.

"You don't have to tell me anymore." Ihna yawned. She layed down on the floor, curling up like a small cat. "I think I'll take a nap..."

"Goodnight." Marik muttered softly before she had fallen asleep. While she slept, she had unconsciously crawled up to him, resting her head on his thigh as a pillow over the hard floor. Marik just let his thoughts dwell, and without realizing, he began petting her hair.

AN: Well shit. I've been gone for a while. So sorry D: But i've been having writers block lately and it took A LOT to get this chapter finished. I know it's short, but please, don't give me any problems.


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